by

Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 231

On Politics
On November 19, 2010, I first asked for it on this weekly post (evidence 1)…. and earlier this week I learned it’s finally going to happen. (evidence 2) … the Palin Channel. Nothing like paying for any-time nincompoopery.

Cheers to Congress for going on their well-earned August recess for accomplishing very little. Throw them all out!

Cheers to the US Senate for quickly and unanimously (97-0) confirming a new secretary to lead the Veterans Affairs (VA) Department – Bob McDonald – yes, a Cincinnatian.

Not long ago I posted this link to a view about the policies of Kansas Governor Sam Brownback (R). Here’s a new link to a counterpoint.

Thursday (at 12:30 pm) I received a robo-call from my representative inviting me to a telephone town hall meeting that started at noon.

Some Ohio Republicans in the state legislature are trying to Ohio to repeal the state’s commitment to the new Common Core educational standards. That a way … follow the lead of education leader Louisiana!

On This Week’s Headlines from The Onion
Assisted care facility hits jackpot with little styrofoam cups of sherbet
Scientists: Rich people, poor people may have common ancestor
Store job applications just asks prospective employees how much they plan to shoplift
Psychology comes to halt as weary researchers say the mind cannot possibly study itself
Executioner enters lethal injection room with bag from Home Depot

Interesting Reads
Columnist Peggy Nonnan about World War I
Top 10 battles of World War I
The Nixon Tapes: A book review
Uncorrupting New Orleans
Water resources and profits
Wine tasting thoughts

On Potpourri
Dollar Tree buys Family Dollar. These discount stores (and their competitors) have become big business over the past 10 years. Nonetheless, I thought this Wall Street Journal headline was a bit tacky: Battle for Poor Shoppers Fuels Dollar-Store Deal.

I see sizeable gaps in this scale. Locally-brewed beers in the USA has experienced tremendous growth in recent years. I recently discovered these designation standards based on annual production: Large Brewery (at least 6 million barrels) and Craft Brewery (less than 6 million barrels). However, Craft Breweries can subdivided into Regional Brewery (15,000-16,000 barrels), Micro Brewery (less than 15,000 barrels), and Nano Brewery (up to 100 barrels). FYI for beer lovers: Here’s an article for the Wall Street Journal.

Because people want to know, here’s an informative video about why dogs smell butts.

Cheers to another successful installment of Life: The Musical. At the time of writing this, 25 songs are in Act 8!

Your weekend celebrations

  • (Weekend) Twins Days, Tree Climbing Days
    (Fri) Beer Day, Tomboy Tools Day, Spider Man Day, Girlfriend’s Day, Lughnasa, Braham Pie Day, Minority Donor Awareness Day, Rounds Resounding Day, Lung Cancer Day, Scout Scarf Day, Raspberry Cream Pie Day, India Pale Ale (IPA) Day
  • (Sat) Mustard Day, Take a Penny/Leave a Penny Day, Hangover Day, Ice Cream Sandwich Day, Dinosaur Day
  • (Sun) Doll Day, Kids Day, Sister’s Day, Watermelon Day, Friendship Day, Family Day, Day of Peace Day

Due to a full plate, no Saturday Morning Cartoon post this weekend. However, I can say this is a new month … so welcome to August.

To send you into the weekend, here’s something with flavor of the new month. Hot August Night was not a song, but an album by Neil Diamond. (Debra, where you there?) However, the opening tune from that night at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles become popular – so enjoy Crunchy Granola Suite. Have a safe weekend and in the words of Garrison Keillor, Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

21 thoughts on “Opinions in the Shorts: Vol. 231”

  1. I wouldn’t watch nincompoop’s channel if I was paid to do so.
    LMAO at: Scientists: Rich people, poor people may have common ancestor

    Nighty-night Frank 🙂

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  3. No way this is true… “Scientists: Rich people, poor people may have common ancestor”.

    On Politics…groan…bad words and thoughts come to mind.

    Going to a party Saturday nite. There will be dancing, but no ballroom style.

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      • We did have a good time. And, we were invited at the last hour to a Sunday evening BBQ with friends who just got back from Italy, Greece, and Turkey. Good stories and pics.

        I’m happy the congress folks are out for break. They have been soooooooo busy making good decisions and laws. They need rest and time for garnering more $$$. (snark snark)

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  4. “The mind cannot possibly study itself,” eh? Hmm. With any luck, all the dingbats watching Palin’s ‘rogue’ act 24/7 will turn into drooling idiots that we never have to hear from again! 😉

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  5. Ha! No, I wasn’t at the Neil Diamond concert in 1968, but I did buy the album back in the day. 🙂 I tried to get concert tickets for the the repeat performance at the Greek a year or so ago. The price tag was way out of my league, however. I like all the links to articles relating to World War 1 this week, Frank. I’ll definitely read those. You’ve got a lot of good stuff here. You need your own channel…forget Nincompoop!

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  9. I don’t subscribe to the WSJ and so was thwarted from reading Peggy Noonan’s column on WW I there, but was successful in getting it through Google and PressDisplay. It was worth the effort. Noonan’s focus is on the devastating effects of war on the national leaders of the time.

    My interest in WW I was recently spiced by reading John Keegan’s powerful and unique study of the psychological nature of war, “The Face of Battle”. He analyzed it by examining its effects in three different historic military battles, Agincourt, Waterloo, and the WW I battle of the Somme. The similarities are striking and help explain what is happening in the world today.

    WW I, like other modern wars, was principally driven by munitions rather than hand-to-hand combat as one might imagine. It was trench warfare, and eventually the massive movement of troops across the battlefield, supported by tanks and ravaged by the machine gun and poison gas. The “trenches” were as deep as 60 feet and life in them was ghastly and prolonged. But, consonant with Noonan’s message, once the forces were committed, there was no going back. Compromise is not natural, and losses only increase the penalties for losing. Thus the hopelessness Noonan describes in the leaders.

    I find that what is happening now in Gaza quite consistent with what happened in WW I. The opposing forces are similarly determined, despite the horrors of combat. The damage is the result of technologies – artillery, mortars, rockets, tunnels (ironically, nearly as deep as those trenches a century ago). The suffering is intense, the killing merciless from a distance, the objectives of each side incompatible and unresolvable.

    One has to wonder, can humanity ever evolve away from war?

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    • Jim,
      Interesting about your access to WSJ because I’m under the impression that one gets limited free access (limited in terms of number of visits). Oh well …

      Thanks for your outstanding comment regarding WW i. Humanity has a tendency not to learn from history … thus history repeats itself. Then again, I keep coming back to a Star Trek scene when the Vulcans commented in disgust about how humans tend to settle differences with aggression … not their minds.

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